Father and Daughter
by Khissy
Summary: From the moment he saw that cute little face, he knew he'd never quite be the same. A story about a special bond forged by an unlikely pair, but one that would make them inseperable nevertheless. Rated -and will probably remain- K.
1. Day One

_A Quick Opening Note: So, I'm writing this one because, let's face it, there needs to be WAY more Russel love in this fandom, simply due to the fact that Russel is awesome. Because of that, here's a little story about Russel and Noodle's bond over the years. I was inspired through looking at and reading a few Russel stories that are around, and by Russel's all around coolness. B-)_

_Let's get on with it then! Enjoy!_

* * *

The moment Russel saw that cute little face, he knew he'd never quite be the same. Before she even began to play her guitar, he was taken with the little 9-something Japanese girl. When she started to play, it quite simply blew his mind. One look at Murdoc's face after the young one played the most captivating guitar they'd ever heard told the drummer that this diminutive girl would be staying. 2D looked, stunned, at the master guitarist, mouth hanging open. Russel immediately grinned and turned to Murdoc.

"I guess our prayers have been answered, Mudz."

Murdoc could only nod, still shocked that this small guitarist, this large blessing, practically came to them on a silver platter. The men beamed at her, even Murdoc wore a soft smile. The girl sensed their approval and, raising her guitar above her head, excitedly proclaimed:

"NOODARU!"

"Noodaru? …Noodle?" Russel asked.

She nodded so fiercely that it looked like her head might fall off. 2D pointed a finger at her.

"Yew, yew're Noodle then?"

She nodded again, grinning up at them. 2D and Russel got down on their knees next to the girl, obviously captivated; they looked like they could hug the adorable little Noodle. Russel put a hand on his chest.

"I'm Russel."

"Roos.. Russ.. Russeru-san?" Noodle mirrored.

Russel chuckled and patted Noodle's head approvingly. It was close enough.

2D pointed to himself.

"And I'm 2D." He then pointed a long, bony finger over at Murdoc, who was sorting through the box Noodle had come in. "That's Murdoc."

"2D-san? Mur.. Murdokku-san?"

Even Murdoc couldn't resist feeling a little bit affectionate. He grinned at the group, huddled together.

"Ahh.. Aoi.." Noodle cooed as she touched 2D's hair.

She turned to Russel and stood on her tip-toes. She put her small hands on either side of his face and carefully pulled him down so he was at eye level with her. She inspected his eyes closely; she'd never seen anyone with purely white eyes before. To Russel, she seemed like a small angel, looking into his eyes as if she were scrutinizing his very soul. She looked over at 2D, she'd never seen anyone with purely black eyes either. Despite their solid colored eyes, the adoration in them was unmistakable.

Murdoc laughed.

"No use standin' around then. Let's get 'er settled in now, hm?"

"We could, but we should try to figure out where she came from first. What does it say on the box?" Russel asked.

"Not a lot." Murdoc shrugged. "But they sent our ad back to us, so this one must be ours. Isn' that right lil' love?"

Noodle knew the strange man with the mismatched eyes was asking her a question, but she didn't know how to respond. She just peered back up at him with a determined look on her face. She could tell the men were talking about her, and she hoped that it wasn't about sending her back. She had a home now, however large and messy it was, and people to take care of her. If that meant that she would have to play the greatest guitar ever heard every single day of her life, then by God she was going to do it. No one would take this away from her if _Noodle_ had anything to say about it.

Russel could tell how badly Noodle wanted to stay, but he persisted.

"What about her parents? Don't we need to go through some sort of adoptive process? She can't be more than eleven or so.." Russel said, the confliction between his hopes to keep the girl and his logic apparent in his voice.

"I don' think anyone'll mind. Someone clearly sent 'er to us, right?"

Russel shook his head, but he looked at young Noodle. Maybe her parents didn't want her, he rationalized, and they couldn't just drop her at an orphanage.

"Well.. Ah, I can't say no." He finally admitted.

2D grinned widely and patted Noodle's head.

"I's set'led then, you're stayin' wif us, li'l gal."

The men unpacked the rest of the crate, finding a few belongings that had come with her. Noodle was practically bouncing off the walls trying to explore everything.

After running several laps around the room, Noodle came to a halt and settled in between Russel and 2D.

"Tomodachi!" She said happily.

No one understood what she said, but her tone sounded approving, so all took it as a sign that she was happy where she was.

The first order of business was finding a room. 2D took Noodle out to get some groceries, Murdoc found a room while Russel went out to purchase some decorations, and the bassist and drummer set everything up. They didn't have a lot of money, so Russel couldn't get Noodle everything he'd wanted to get her, but he was able to acquire the basics. He had managed to buy some bedding, clothes, Japanese-style lanterns, and even found some magazines in Japanese, though he had to wing it on the Japanese items and just pray that she _was_ actually Japanese and not Chinese or Korean.

When they'd finished setting up her room, they realized just how spacious it was. The room was split in to two main parts, one of them, presumably, a walk-in closet. Russel made a note to install some screen doors so that it would be a proper closet.

Later, the group ate and then gathered in the living room. Once everything had been set up, Russel gave Noodle a piggyback ride to her room, 2D and Murdoc leading. Russel set the little lady down on the bed and took a step back, allowing her to get familiar with it. The men stood, smiling, even Murdoc looked pleased at his work.

Noodle put a hand on her chest, trying to ask if it was hers.

"Fer yew, li'l luv." 2D said with a grin.

Noodle jumped on the bed and explored everything. Russel thanked the gods that she seemed able to understand the Japanese magazines he'd bought.

Everyone settled in, Noodle sitting cross legged on her bed with her guitar, and all three men sitting cross-legged around her. She clearly loved her room, and rewarded the men with another masterful guitar performance. 2D recognized the song, and began to sing along, Russel drummed along on his legs, and Murdoc played his bass with them. They ended the song, Murdoc nodding his approval.

"That was great!" 2D beamed.

"We'll make it big in no time like this." Russel agreed.

Unexpected, a zombie stalked in. The beast reeked something awful and was large and intimidating, even frightening 2D, who loved zombies. Noodle and 2D immediately hid behind Russel and Murdoc.

"EEEEEEK!" Came a loud yell, though no one was sure whether it had come from Noodle or 2D.

"Damn zombies…" Murdoc growled as he pulled a gun from his pocket.

He shot the zombie quickly and went to drag the body away, leaving Russel and 2D to console the young Noodle. She clung to Russel as if her life depended on it, and refused to let go. 2D stroked the young one's hair and sung softly to her until finally her eyelids began to fall and her head began to nod. Russel slowly lowered her sleepy form to the bed and covered her up carefully. She was reminiscent of a delicate doll in a bed two times too big for her. Russel had only known her for a day, but he hoped that he would be there to watch her grow and mature.

"She's a precious one isn' she?" 2D asked. "Our Noodle."

"Yeah…" Russel trailed off as they quietly left the room. "Noodle. Our little Noodle."

* * *

_It's a shorter chapter I know, but there is more to come! So I hope you've liked my little bit here so far, and hopefully will be nice enough to continue reading. Next chapter I can hopefully dive into the characters and their everyday mischeif a little bit more. Hoho!_

_Yeah, I'm not a Japanese whiz, and what I know of it is limited and broken, so if anyone has corrections, I'll take them._

Aoi = blue

Tomodachi = friend

_Review if you wish, and please, stay beautiful. ;)_


	2. Restless

Hello again!

So here's a new chapter for everyone. I tried to make it a little longer than the last one. I'm too lazy to confirm that though…

So uh, happy reading!

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"Thank you for coming, everyone." Murdoc said in a cheesy MC voice.

"Yeah, yeah, Muds, what d'you need? It's 7:00, you're never up this early."

Murdoc growled a bit at Russel's remark and then tried to give him a hurt look. Russel just rolled his eyes at his band mate's shallow antics, how did he even end up here in a messy studio with possibly the strangest two men he could ever hope to meet? Oh right, they kidnapped him. He smiled at Noodle, who was seated between himself and 2D, wearing the pajamas he'd bought her. They were pretty simple, red with large white dots. She had made the last few days much more bearable. Her room was messy, but it didn't smell rancid like the Winnebago and wasn't full of smoke like 2D's room. And it didn't have dead animals in or near it, much as he loved taxidermy.

Yes, with Noodle about, he suddenly found that he could deal with Murdoc's banging around and drinking late at night and 2D's constant, raging stupidity.

"Anyways…" Murdoc spat, as if trying to break Russel from his thoughts. "I was thinking about our band name, Gorilla."

"Well wot abou' it?" 2D asked sleepily.

"I was gettin' t' that if you'd wait a damned second!" Murdoc yelled, making 2D shrink back slightly.

Murdoc sighed.

"Well since I think our band is pretty much complete, how about we call it Gorillaz?"

"Wow Muds, you actually had a good idea." Russel remarked feigning amazement.

Murdoc growled and muttered a few obscenities under his breath.

"I take it yer on board then. What about you, faceache?"

"I's fine. Can I go back t'sleep now?" 2D slurred.

So there they were, Gorillaz. Murdoc had come up with a few songs to work on. Now that they had a guitarist, they could actually develop their songs and finish them, and boy, did they have a lot to work on.

The newly named band go together again at a much more decent time of day and began work on some songs, toying with the various beats and rhythms. Noodle proved herself to be not only skilled with the guitar, but a musical genius when it came to songwriting.

Noodle was happy that they seemed to take her input so well. By now, she was pretty sure she had figured them all out. Murdoc was obviously the leader, and a highly egotistical one at that. She sensed something weird about him, with his mismatched eye colors and jagged teeth. She had surmised that he was a demon of some sort. 2D was unlike anyone she could ever remember meeting. He seemed strange at first, with that weird blue hair and those dark eyes. But regardless, they'd begun to grow close; she even called him oniisama at times. Then there was Russel, by far the biggest man she had ever seen, but also one of the kindest she could hope for. He was protective of her and even found a translator website so he could talk with her in Japanese- to the best of his abilities, anyways. Noodle didn't know what to expect while she was cooped up in the box, and she couldn't remember much of her life before that, so she was excited to make a new life with the people she hoped would one day become her nakama.

The band worked for hours each day, but the time flew by unnoticed. There was a good mood all around as they prepared a song for someone Murdoc had gotten from EMI records. No one knew how he managed to get the person, even he admitted that all his past bands were terrible, but it wasn't questioned. Russel and 2D decided that, knowing their bandmate, it was best not to ask.

Weeks later, they performed the song that would be their access pass to fame. Faster than any of them could have dreamed, they had a record deal, and they were working on their first album. Murdoc's head must've grown 10 times its regular size. They met important people, found collaborators, even did a few interviews, and generally bathed in the rising fame. It was hard work, but they were up for it. Whether they could remain sane though was yet to be seen.

"Get the cool shoeshine." Russel instructed.

"Nani?" Noodle asked, confused.

"Say, 'Get the cool shoeshine'"

"Say." She repeated.

She smiled innocently, but all this work was tiring, Russel had been trying to teach her a lot of English lately and some of it she picked up easily, but she had a lot of difficulty with certain words. She was doing much better at learning English than the rest of them were doing at learning Japanese though…. She didn't know what 'get the cool sunshine' meant, but both Murdoc and 2D had approached her and tried to teach her to say it. And now Russel too. To top it all off, she'd been feeling funny, as if two butterflies were fighting in her stomach. She scoffed.

"Ge-t za cooru shooshine." She attempted half-heartedly, strongly enunciating the 't' and both 'sh' sounds.

Russel gave an encouraging half-smile, she was still struggling to learn. He knew this must have been a huge culture shock for her. She was practically abandoned in the middle of England, the middle of nowhere in England to be precise. Russel was just glad she hadn't ended up in the hands of some pedophile or mental case. Murdoc was a pervert, but he would never touch Noodle like that, and 2D wasn't the brightest thing, but he was far from psychotic.

"That's good for now." He sighed, standing. "We'll try later."

Noodle pounced off to go play games, glad that the lesson was over, and Russel made his way to the kitchen to cook some food for dinner. They still didn't have much money coming in, but this week, they could actually afford some real food instead of the usual biscuits and crappy, concentrated juice.

Russel put a large, silver pot half full of water over the stove and turned it on. He rummaged feverishly through the cabinets, looking for the spaghetti noodles he'd purchased the previous day. Hopefully 2D hadn't tried to eat it again. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it underneath some ragged cloths. Russel carelessly ripped open the large package of thick noodles and poured them carefully into the boiling pot. As he stirred the contents of the pot, he let his thoughts wander. Noodle had been feeling a bit down lately, but hadn't shown a temperature or loss of appetite, she was physically fine, but she wasn't quite there spiritually.

'Thinkin' about that girl again?' A gruff, deep voice asked inside his mind.

'Del? Didn't think you'd be awake right now.' Russel remarked.

'Somethin' weird's been happening. I can feel it. It's makin' me restless.'

'Any idea what it is?' Russel asked casually, paranormal happenings being of little wonder to him.

'It's Noodle. '

Russel's attention snapped away from his cooking.

'What d'you mean, "It's Noodle?"' He asked, growing concerned.

'I dunno, man, but you might wanna try talkin' to her about it. It could turn sour faster than you'd think.'

With that, Del faded into a fitful sleep, leaving Russel with no peace of mind. He tried to push the thoughts away as he finished the noodles and baked the meatballs. He pulled out some spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning and mixed everything, creating a delicious aroma that brought everyone in before he could even put the plates down and call them.

"'Bout time.." Murdoc growled, grabbing himself a cracked, grisly-looking plate.

Everyone devoured their share quietly and stalked off to their rooms. Russel had, luckily, made enough to last another day or two. He picked up the plates and gently laid them in the sink, not feeling up to cleaning them tonight. After making sure the lights were off, he walked out of the kitchen to his room.

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I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Any reviews/favorites/alerts are highly appreciated!

Giant thanks to everyone who showed some love last time, I'm so sorry this took so long. I'll try to get chapter 3 done sooner. To add, if someone faves/reviews/adds to their alert, a message is sent to my email, which I see every time I check my mail, which reminds me to write this story. Get it? *wink*

A note about this chapter: I've only recently gotten _Rise of the Ogre_. I ordered it after I started this chapter. Can you believe it's only US $5.99 these days? A converter says that's something like 3.89 pounds and 4.70 euros. Anyways, my point is that I don't have all of my facts straight. I have no idea how the band first managed to communicate with Noodle, and I realize finding online translators might not have been very easy in 2000-ish, etc. So bear with me.

Nani = what

Nakama = very good friend

Onii/nii-san = brother

Remember, in the UK, cookies are referred to as 'biscuits.'

See you all again!


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